Home Away from Home: Borsch is good for the soul

Written by Emily Barnard

Anna Makarova at her “home away from home,” Mari Vanna.

Each installment of the new series “Home Away from Home” will feature a young woman immigrant and the place in New York City that reminds her most of her home country, providing comfort and easing the stresses of starting life in a new country.

Five years ago, Anna emigrated from St. Petersburg, Russia, to the US looking for a new start and new opportunities. She spent several years in Los Angeles, but in 2015, when she began to crave a deeper sense of community that was missing in the Californian city, she moved to New York.

Not long after, Anna joined New Women New Yorkers’ LEAD program, a free professional development program for young women immigrants. Then, she landed a job in real estate. Her determination to build her own success is what drove her to America and is what drives her every day—but, like many immigrants, she sometimes gets homesick.

Also like many immigrants, Anna has a “home away from home,” a place she likes to visit that reminds her of life in St. Petersburg. For her, it’s Mari Vanna, a Russian restaurant in Flatiron, which also has a location in St. Petersburg. It’s the kind of restaurant that is so homey, many patrons could half expect their grandmother to emerge from the kitchen. The rustic interior is accented with floral wallpaper, exquisite china, and Matryoshka dolls.

“They made the interior like an apartment, like you’re in someone’s house,” Anna says. “In Russia, when you go to this restaurant, there is no sign on the door. When you open the door, they give you slippers to wear and a Russian newspaper to read.”

The traditional and familiar Russian menu adds to its comforting ambiance. When I met Anna there to chat, we both decided to order Borsch, a tart, beetroot-based soup with chunks of beef. The dish is Anna’s favorite. She says that Russian parents and grandparents are constantly serving soup to their children and grandchildren: “I call my grandmother and she says ‘Did you eat soup today?’ Everyday you have to eat soup. It’s healthy for your stomach, it’s good!”

She says her grandmother’s Borsch is unrivaled: “It’s like magic for me.”

In Russian culture, there is a focus on freshness and care — meals are prepared with love and with the intention of bringing good health to whoever eats it. Anna’s grandmother lives near a forest, where she picks wild blueberries and mushrooms for homemade pierogis.

A feast at Mari Vanna.

Between slurps of soup, Anna tells me how she loves “being the only Russian” in any place. Despite her strong ties to her heritage, she did not seek a Russian community in New York because she enjoys learning about other cultures and befriending people with different experiences than her own. While a participant in New Women New Yorkers’ LEAD program, she became friends with women from other countries like Brazil and China.

Yet, even with her passion for diversity, Mari Vanna is her sacred place. She visits to be reminded of her grandmother with every spoonful of Borsch and sour cream. It’s the place she goes whenever she is craving a bowl of soup or to remind herself of home.